


into the night

by third



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, First Time, Hand Jobs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Sharing a Bed, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 21:08:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8117629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/third/pseuds/third
Summary: For all intents and purposes, Shiro will always say that he is fine. But one year in captivity with no positive touch can really affect a person. Keith’s the one who realises the difference.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the hurt & comfort square on my card for [seasonofkink](https://seasonofkink.dreamwidth.org/).

Despite what Keith said, sleep doesn’t come easy that night.

The adrenaline from forming Voltron, from actually working as a team, is too much for him and his mind is racing.

After a while of counting upwards in an attempt to sleep, Keith gets up from his bed and goes to walk around the castle. He might as well make use of his time and go train to get rid of his pent up energy.

He only gets as far as down the hall before he starts to hear these weird noises coming from one of the other paladin’s rooms. They sound in distress and it only takes a second for him to realise it’s Shiro.

There’s no moment of deliberation, Keith goes straight to Shiro’s room, though he enters quietly just in case he’s actually just hearing things. But as he gets closer, the noises get louder and start to sound more like whimpering and rustling.

Inside, he finds the source. Shiro’s having a nightmare.

It looks like a bad one too. Shiro’s face is crumpled in pain, and he’s sweating profusely. There’s no doubt what he’s dreaming about.

It’s familiar enough for Keith to go up and sit next to Shiro on his bed. He puts an arm on Shiro’s shoulder and gently shakes him awake. It actually pains him a bit to see Shiro like this.

“Hey, wake up,” Keith says, softly not to wake any of the others up. “You’re fine. You’re safe.”

Eventually, Shiro stirs. 

“Keith?” Shiro asks, his eyes tired and confused when he sees Keith in front of him.

“I’m here,” Keith says. “You were having a nightmare.”

Shiro rubs a hand through his hair. “I suppose that’s a thing that happens now,” he sighs. “Sorry to have woken you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Keith says. “Couldn’t sleep anyway.”

Shiro tries to smile. “What happened to going out like a light?”

“Guess I was wrong,” Keith says solemnly, not going along with Shiro’s efforts to make everything more light hearted.

Eventually Shiro’s smile drops. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep either.” He takes a look at Keith who’s sitting on the edge of the bed, moves over a little and flips his sheets open. “Might as well have company?”

It takes Keith by surprise, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to miss this opportunity, so he climbs inside with his back against Shiro.

Shiro moves the sheets until it covers the both of them snuggly, and then casually drops his arm around Keith.

“Familiar, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Keith manages to croak out, his heart racing more that he’d like. He hopes that Shiro can’t hear it.

He’s about to say more before he realises that Shiro’s breathing has evened out and he’s fallen asleep, albeit this time more restfully.

There’s a lot of questions in Keith’s mind, but he pushes them aside and lets himself enjoy this. He can deal with them later.

For now, he sleeps.

-

The thing is, before the Kerberos mission that separated the two of them, Keith and Shiro had… something.

It was never defined, and Shiro spent more time trying to pretend that there was nothing than actually acting on anything, but they were something.

They spent most of their time ignoring it. There were too many reasons for it not to work out well, but it didn’t stop their slow descent into each other. And then the mission happened. And then there was nothing.

In the morning, Keith wakes up to an empty bed. 

At first he’s disorientated, the room similar to his own but different in its own unique ways. The memories from the previous night come back to him and he sighs. He isn’t sure what he expected but realising that Shiro left him leaves a heavy feeling in his chest.

He runs a hand over his face, schools his expression into something more palatable and then leaves Shiro’s room, off to face another day.

-

The next night, Keith somehow finds himself outside of Shiro’s room yet again.

He has his ear pressed against Shiro’s door, trying to hear if there are any distressed sounds. Just as he’s about to turn and leave, half relieved that Shiro isn’t having a nightmare and half disappointed that he won’t be able to stay, the door opens and Keith finds himself standing awkwardly in front of a very amused looking Shiro.

“I was, uh, going to get some water,” Keith says, mumbling through the first thing that comes into his mind. 

“And that required you to stand outside my door for the last five minutes?” Keith looks up at Shiro and flushes, caught out. “Come on in.”

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Keith says as he follows Shiro into his room. The door closes behind them and Shiro climbs back into bed, squashing himself against the wall to leave space for Keith. Keith ignores the better part of his brain that’s questioning this, and climbs in like it’s natural.

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t sleeping.” They arrange themselves until they’re comfortable, with Shiro once again pressed to Keith’s back. Softly and quietly, like he doesn't mean to be heard at all, Shiro says, “I don’t know whether sleeping is worse than being awake sometimes.”

“Shiro?” Keith says, trying to turn back and look at his face but Shiro’s arms tighten around Keith to keep him in place.

“Sleep,” Shiro says, breath warm on the back of Keith’s neck. “I know you’re tired.”

As much as Keith wants to question Shiro, he understands when he’s trying to deflect. His tiredness starts to catch up to him and he falls into an easy sleep, surrounded by Shiro’s warmth. 

-

“Did something happen between you and Shiro?” Pidge asks, on one of the few days where there’s not much to do but train. Everyone’s spending their time on the training deck, preparing themselves.

Shiro had gone off with Allura in an effort to recall more about his time as a prisoner. For a reason Keith can’t figure out, it feels weird to not have Shiro by his side.

“No,” Keith answers, finally. “Why would you ask that?”

Pidge pauses, like she’s unsure whether she should say anything at all. “You guys just seem… closer.”

“Closer?”

“Whenever I see Shiro, I see you somewhere nearby,” Pidge says. “I don’t know if I just noticed it now but you guys also seem more touchy.”

It’s something that Keith had kind of noticed as well. After the first two nights, it seemed natural for Keith to go to Shiro’s room and slip into his bed, whether he was awake or not. Shiro was always welcoming, and he mentioned that it seemed to curb off the nightmares so Keith just kept doing it. In the daytime, Keith seemed to notice the way that Shiro seemed to be around him more often, the lingering touches and how most of their days were spent with each other. 

“Nothing’s happened,” Keith says, final. It’s mostly the truth.

“If you’re sure,” Pidge says, with so much disbelief in her voice it almost makes Keith laugh.

-

Pidge’s words leave an imprint in Keith’s mind, however, so that night he decides not to visit Shiro.

Or so he tries. After what feels like hours of tossing and turning in his bed, he gets up and makes his way to Shiro’s room.

It’s not until he’s inside that Keith realises that Shiro’s having a nightmare. He finds Shiro lying straight on his back, in the middle of the bed, not moving an inch. He’s talking quietly, his voice soft but scared, his face crumpled in distress. 

“No,” Keith hears Shiro say as he rushes towards him. “Stop.”

“Wake up, Shiro,” Keith says, as he reaches Shiro’s side. He’s unsure whether he should shake Shiro’s shoulder. This nightmare seems much more worse than the last, and he’s scared to touch him, not wanting to make Shiro more distressed. 

“Stop,” Shiro says again. “Please, I’ll be good.”

“Shiro,” Keith says, more frantic, “wake up. It’s just a dream.”

He’s pleading now, and he finally places a hand on Shiro’s arm in hopes he’ll wake up.

Shiro does, his eyes fluttering open the moment Keith touches him and his other hand reaching over to grab Keith’s wrist, tightly.

It takes a moment but the grip relaxes. 

“Keith,” Shiro sighs out. “Sorry. I didn’t think you'd come.”

Guilt eats at Keith. “Was held up, sorry.”

Shiro smiles like he knows that isn’t the truth but he lets it go. He moves over to let Keith in, and Keith takes his place next to Shiro.

-

In retrospect, Keith realises that he should’ve expected this to happen.

It’s a normal occurrence, one that no one should be ashamed of, but when Keith wakes up that morning to something hard pressing against the back of his thigh, his face flushes red and he becomes completely still.

While he’s slowly freaking out, Shiro pulls Keith closer towards him and then ruts against him. Keith’s face burns and he hates himself for the way his own dick perks up too.

He’s trying to find a way to escape, when he feels Shiro freeze behind him. Keith’s deciding whether he should close his eyes and pretend to sleep to allow Shiro an easy escape, when Shiro moves closer. Keith gets a bigger surprise when Shiro snakes his arm around Keith and places his palm on Keith’s hard on.

“Shiro?” Keith says, cautiously, discarding his plan to feign sleep.

“Mm?” Shiro says, rubbing his palm down the length of Keith’s cock. Keith shudders.

He wants nothing more than to just give in and let Shiro do what he wants, but deep down he knows that Shiro’s been acting different lately, and despite all his wants, not hurting Shiro trumps all of them. “What are you doing?” Keith asks, instead.

“Do you not want to?” Shiro asks, still moving his palm. It’s getting increasingly hard for Keith to think straight. He puts a hand over Shiro’s to stop him.

“You know that’s not it,” Keith says, and it’s true. Before Shiro left on his mission, Keith was always the one initiating things and it was Shiro who always put a stop to things before they got too far. It’s one of the reasons that alarm bells are ringing in Keith’s head. This isn’t like Shiro.

Shiro stiffens behind him. “What is it then?”

Sighing, Keith turns around in Shiro’s grasp so that they’re facing each other. He’s careful to make sure that their cocks don’t touch, not sure if he’d be able to hold himself back. 

Shiro looks unsure, and it’s an expression Keith never wants to see Shiro make around him. He reaches up and brushes the messy strands of Shiro’s bed hair away from face. Keeping his eyes on Shiro’s hair, he says, “We’ve never gone this far before. And lately you’ve been really attached to me. I don’t mind it, but it’s different. I need to know what’s on your mind. I need to know you’re okay.”

Shiro closes his eyes and leans his head against Keith’s fingers, seeking warmth. There's a moment of silence, and Keith waits patiently for Shiro to be ready. “I don’t know what it is,” Shiro says. “I just feel better around you. Safer.” 

It makes Keith’s eyes widen. It’s hard for him to say, but he has to. It's been on his mind for a while now, after he started to notice the change in Shiro. “Do you think it has anything to do with what happened to you?”

Shiro sighs. “Maybe? I just know your touch makes me feel better.”

Keith’s forgotten cock stirs. He’d feel bad about it, but he’s so euphorically happy and turned on at Shiro’s need for him. He smiles at Shiro. “Then I’m all yours to touch,” he says, unabashedly, and then laughs at the way Shiro leers at him.

His laugh turns into a moan when Shiro rolls them over so that Keith is snuggly beneath him. Their bodies are lined up and Keith can feel the hard length of Shiro’s cock against his own.

“Is this okay?” Shiro asks, looking flushed.

Keith nods. “As long as it’s okay with you.”

The smile Shiro gives him is dazzling. “Then we’re all right,” he says, and then reaches down and takes both of their cocks out of their pants.

Keith moans when Shiro wraps his hand around the both of them, holding them in his grip. It’s warm and tight, and Keith feels a shudder run through his body.

He lifts his arms and wraps them around Shiro, pulling him closer until they’re face to face. Shiro keeps a steady pace, pumping the both of them together, their cocks rubbing against each other. 

“Shiro,” Keith says, trying not to be too loud in case anyone else is awake.

“Shh,” Shiro says, sweat rolling down his forehead. His arm looks strained, his muscles tight as his strokes increase.

Keith tries to keep quiet, but he can’t help letting some sounds out, feeling too good. Shiro kisses him to silence him, and Keith holds onto him tight.

It’s only a few more strokes before he’s coming over the both of them, ruining both of their shirts. He lies back, relaxed, and watches as Shiro finishes himself off on top of him, pumping himself quickly, staring at Keith the entire time. It’s a sight that Keith never wants to forget. 

Soon after, Shiro moans, long and hard, and then comes all over Keith. Shiro leans forward and Keith pulls him down and then kisses him again.

“We’re gross,” Keith says, after a moment. Shiro’s lying on top of him, head resting on his chest and Keith can feel the way his shirt has started to stick against his skin and against Shiro’s.

“I’ll get up in a minute,” Shiro says, and then looks up at Keith. His grin is so large and content, Keith kisses him to get it off his face.


End file.
